𝐔𝐍𝐑𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐋 𝐌𝐄 (Ongoing)

7

Too Many Nights

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(Maji's pov)

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It was only the third day but to me, it felt like forever. Time seemed to tick by excruciatingly slow and it was gnawing at me like insects to a corpse. I had barely moved from my spot under the window. When I had to use the bathroom I held it until I couldn't anymore, the cold floor was comforting against my skin, it kept me grounded.

Only when my bones started to ache from it did I slowly move to the small uncomfortable cot against the wall. Not being permitted to be outside seemed to make my brown skin look pale, it and my eyes looked dull and lifeless as I was kept in the dark. Of course, there was a lamp in the cell but id requested it to be kept off as the dark blended in with my mood. Barely an ounce of sunlight streamed in through the barred window but it was enough to make me long for the feel of the sun's rays kissing my face.

I was laying down, curled against the cold wall, my back against the wall when I heard the sound of footsteps coming closer and the small hatch opened, letting me know that one of the guards had placed another tray of food down. Taking away the untouched one.

As usual, my appetite was gone so I didn't move an inch. Believe me, I tried to eat, on multiple accounts but once the food hit my tongue, I grew nauseous and I was sprinting toward the small toilet, emptying the little contents left in my stomach before all I could do was dry heave.

I knew though that if I didn't eat, it would only hurt myself and no one else so slowly I sat up, sluggishly walking to the door and grabbing the tray.

There was a small cup filled with water, a cup of rice, bread, and some kind of meat. I walked back to my "bed" and sat crisscross with my back against the freezing metal wall.

At first all I did was poke and prod at my food as my face settled in a deep frown, one that hadn't let up since I'd been confined. I wasn't even thinking about anything, I just stared down at the food as my vision blurred and my eyes unfocused.

I sat there for a minute, just staring before I grabbed the cup filled with rice in one hand and the other with the orange plastic spoon. The rice was cold from me not eating it sooner and it was bland. Then again everything tastes bland to me, ever since my brother disappeared it seemed so did my taste buds. Food just didn't appeal to me like it used to and when I found myself going into the darkness everything around me didn't entice me anymore. Everything was just dull.

I ate all I could to sate the hunger before I couldn't eat anymore. I slowly stood and placed the tray back into the little table under the hatch and was headed back to the bed when I saw my peripheral in the mirror. I stopped and just examined myself, since being in here I hadn't done much of it, too busy huddled on the floor but now that I am I see that my once lively dark brown skin was gone.

I had bags under my eyes from the lack of sleep. This also wasn't healthy for me but every time I tried to sleep....that darkness, that drowning loneliness crept up with its sharp teeth and wrapped itself around my neck.

Insomnia was a bitch.

I know it would eventually lead me into madness but I couldn't risk it. Only when I'd lost the battle was when I could sleep and not long was I waking up again in a cold sweat, as the memories sunk themselves into me.

My lips were dry and started to crack a bit. My hair was a mess and I was tired of the way I looked so I separated my hair in two sections and began to conrow them down my head, feeding in my locs as I went.

I'd seen many people do this with their own locs and at a certain point in time when they'd finally take them out, their locs would always be crinkled and curly.